“I found making a home is not about all your stuff or even doing household chores. It’s more than just how you take care of your personal space. It’s what Titus 2 talks about – how you fulfill your role in the church and in your relationships with other people, and how you glean from them and disciple others. Just to stay home, isolate yourself, and have a nicely decorated, tidy house is not the point…It’s always about the people. Making a home is not about the physical space; it’s about the people who are coming and going from this place.“
“Homemaking is simply the collection of tasks that keep a home running. These tasks are no more the ultimate definition of “looking well to the ways of a household” than cleaning out electronic files, deleting emails, answering the phone, and booking travel reservations are to the actual definition of office work. Every sphere has its repetitive tasks that contribute to the larger goal of productivity. The point of being a keeper at home is to provide a haven for a godly family to thrive, to offer hospitality to fellow Christians and non-Christians alike, and to provide a place for the church to meet.“
Quotes shared from Caroyln McCulley’s Radical Womanhood
How can I make my homemaking today more about the people who abide here or enter through my doors? How often do we get so consumed in the tasks of homemaking and loose sight of the very purpose of our homes? Your home is a centerplace for the gospel! Let’s renew that goal together and strive to make our homes overflow with the fragrance of Christ today! Stop right now and focus on your spouse or child. Write a note of encouragement to a family member. Let’s turn on that praise music, let’s sing together, let’s post Scripture truths around our homes, and let’s invite the lost through our doors to witness His love!
Thank you for a great reminder. As a new wife and newer mom, I sometimes get so bogged down in making our apartment look perfect, and I forget what it’s all about. My family/guests will be happier if the house is decent and I am content than if the house is perfect and I am stressed.
This is such an encouraging post and comment section! I didn’t grow up with a homemaker either and have found great joy in being one. Well, there is loneliness, boredom and frustration too. I’ve been reading the book “In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms” and a point she makes is that any job had its tough points, just because that’s so doesn’t mean you quit and find another job. We can raise the esteem of homemaking without making it a utopia (we will always wait for heaven while we’re here on earth). And this “job,” like no other, brings the greatest joys.
I’m usually out and about at least some each day to avoid the “bored and lonely” feelings but last week I took it easier (pregnancy does that to us sometimes!) and stayed home all day. I kept asking God what to do during the day and found that at the end of the day I actually enjoyed being home. I felt more relaxed when my husband got home and didn’t feel lonely like I sometimes do. I just enjoyed the time with my toddler and my God. This vocation is just getting better with time. Thanks again for the encouragment Lindsey!
Thanks Lindsay! I need this reminder. Hospitality was not something I grew up with and it has been a hard habit to get into – - particularly when I wish my home was more “perfect”… I know I should be willing to open my home, even if it isn’t decorated and updated just as I’d like it to be. (Is it okay to have company over when your curtain rods are still hanging there bare?
I’ve been in homes that would be considered dumpy by most peoples’ standards, but the love that was shown there made it a place you always wanted to come back to. God, help me to have the kind of love and hospitality that makes even my “undecorated” home a place others love to be.
I love the part about deleting emails and cleaning up your computer – and how that in no way defines office work, it’s just a repetitive part of it that allows the actual purpose of office work to be completed. I need to remember that about housework. It is necessary and repetitive, but it helps me achieve my true purpose of homemaking – making my home a welcome place for my family, my friends, my neighbors and the church (welcome, not perfect).
I really appreciate this reminder. This tweak in my thinking gives me a completely different outlook on the tedious work I tend to put off. Perspective is good, and I frequently need to adjust mine. Thanks for writing the words I needed to read.
Hospitality is risky in a warm and wonderful way. Some people have a sweet gift of hospitality and for others, it’s a stretch, but a Mary heart is so welcoming and a Martha heart serves.
thanks for the reminder! it’s so easy to get weighed down by the ‘everyday’ tasks that we undertake. they don’t seem so hard to bear when we remember why we are doing it and WHO we are doing it for!
i think if i shouted amen any louder you would hear me from my house!
thank you, lindsay!!!
Great thoughts and quotes! I couldn’t agree more, and I appreciate you sharing this with us today!
Blessings,
Joy
I LOVE this post. I’m learning to be a homemaker. Hospitality has never come naturally for me (it is for my husband – so he helps me) but it is something that I’m striving for. Thanks sooooo much for this little bit of encouragement.
There is a church down the street from us with a banner that simply reads “MAKE LOVE YOUR GOAL”. It always catches my attention, and I thought of it once again when reading your blog. Thanks for the good reminder.
Thanks so much for posting this, it is a lovely reminder!
Mmm…mmm… good stuff.
I recently found your blog and am loving reading it. i especially loved today’s reminder of what true homemaking is all about…thanks for the post!
What a wonderful reminder. Thank you for this! I sometimes get caught up in the every day, household chores and forget what it’s really all about.
I am nearing the end of reading Radical Womanhood – it’s so good. That is something God has been speaking to me too. I want my home to be a haven for those who live here but I also want it to be a place where those who know God and those who don’t yet feel at home. It takes a daily reminder to keep in mind the most important calling as a keeper of our homes – to have a home with open doors! Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful points! My church really emphasizes growing personal relationships through hospitality, which I think is wonderful. Before I started attending, I didn’t know a thing about it. Now I love it!
Thanks you so much. We are having our youth over tonight and I really needed to be reminded of this!!!! It’s so easy to get overwhelmed with all the “tasks” that need to be done!
Your blog is so refreshing. Thank you for the time you take to share your findings! Blessings!
thanks. such a great reminder of why i do what i do. today i will be more conscience of these little girls and that wonderful husband that make my house a home.